HOLYOKE — A bail violation hearing for Holyoke City Councilor Wilmer “Will” Puello-Mota has been postponed until June 16.
Puello is currently incarcerated in Rhode Island, where police have alleged that he forged his Air Force supervisor’s signature on a fake memo in a ruse to trick prosecutors who had brought a felony charge of child pornography possession against him for allegedly paying for nude photos of a 17-year-old girl in 2020. Puello has pleaded not guilty to that charge.
Puello was out on bail in the child pornography possession case, but Massachusetts State Police arrested and extradited him last month after Rhode Island prosecutors charged him with obstruction of justice as well as forgery and counterfeiting — violations of his bail conditions.
Now held without bail, Puello was scheduled to appear in court Thursday for a bail violation hearing, but the hearing has been rescheduled. An employee in the Newport County Superior Court clerk’s office said Thursday that Puello has COVID.
A court docket shows that Puello’s bail violation hearing will now take place on June 16 at 9:30 a.m.
Police in Warwick, Rhode Island, have alleged that on May 30, 2020, they responded to a hotel room after Puello’s gun was reported stolen. There, police allege that a 17-year-old girl told them that Puello was her “sugar daddy” she had met online, and that Puello paid her for sexually explicit photos after he was aware that she was 17.
Puello allegedly told police that he initially believed she was 22 and did not have sexual contact with her. In court documents, police allege that a forensic examination of Puello’s phone showed that he had sexually explicit videos of the girl in a trash folder.
Dusty Christensen can be reached at dchristensen@gazettenet.com.